Lagos government set to evict sacked doctors

The Lagos State Government has given an eviction notice to the recently sacked doctors who are still living in official quarters.

The eviction notices, which were served on the affected doctors on Thursday, directed them to vacate the quarters by Friday.

The notices dated May 8, 2012, were signed by the Secretary of the Staff Housing Board for the Head of Service, Mr I.A Shoyemi.

Each of the notices states: “Consequent upon your dismissal from the service of the Lagos State Government with effect from 4th May, 2012, and in accordance with the civil service rule, no officer shall continue to occupy the state government quarters after the date of his or her resignation/dismissal.

“I wish to request you to vacate the state government staff quarters.

“In view of the above, you are hereby requested to submit the keys to the quarters to the Secretary of the Staff Housing Board.”.

Reacting to the development, Dr Johnson Emene, the First Vice-Chairman of the LagosState chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), criticised the government action.

Speaking at the association’s congress at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Emene said that under the state’s tenancy law, tenants ought to be given a six-month notice, prior to their eviction.

He stressed that the NMA had instructed the affected doctors to ignore the quit notice, adding that the NMA had begun negotiations with the state government to find a solution to the crisis.

“We have told them not to panic. Within the next 13 hours after the meeting, we are going to know the outcome. Nobody will evict the doctors between now and tomorrow,” Emene said